Today we had a 6AM wakeup call and we did the usual packing and eating breakfast. We rode to Butte, MT which was a 57 mile ride, we had the beautiful sunshine again for only the second time this trip! Seven miles into the trip today we encountered another mountain pass but luckily this one was only 4 miles long. It was our 5th mountain pass for the summer. When we got to the top of the Georgetown Lake Pass we had this beautiful scenery surrounding us everywhere and an awesome waterfall going down the mountain. So we all stopped and took pictures for a while and then we had a team circle up. It was so Michael could pass out these little strings of rope that Fred and Wes cut up the night before. We were supposed to take them and all put them around our wrist and wear them for the rest of the summer. This was so every time we are having a rough day or a tough time on the bicycle and we look down and see it we will remember all the guys we are here with and how we would have gotten nowhere without the help of all of them. It symbolizes that on this trip we are nothing if we don’t have each other. It was really awesome way to really get us to feel the support of each other. Then before we continued we got in a circle and did the Husker’s prayer, which we all said with tons of excitement and energy. It was awesome. Though the waterfall may have been the most spectacular feature of the ride, the rest of the day would still be filled with absolutely breathtaking sights. We continued to ride on the top of the pass for the next twenty miles. On the way to the descent, we passed to the left of the Georgetown Lake. I’ve truly never seen anything like it. The lake was on the top of the pass and was the foreground to the beautiful snow capped Rocky Mountains. The surrounding mountains were perfectly reflected in the still water of the lake. The rest of our ride would consist of a gradual descend into Butte. As incredible as the ride was into Butte, it was not the highlight of today. We finished the ride by riding to the local YMCA in Butte where we would be staying for the night. After unpacking the vans and eating lunch we had four hours of free time before we had to leave for our friendship visit! This friendship visit was a little different than most, and I would say the most fun thus far. When we got there this girl came up to us and hugged us all and told us how happy she was that we were there and how great we were for visiting. I don’t know if you have ever had a complete stranger hug you and tell you how happy there are to see you but it was a pretty amazing feeling. Then time after time we were thanked for coming because they had been waiting all week and getting excited for us to come. Person after person told us how much we meant to them, and again it just felt awesome that we were making so many people’s days!! The friendship visit consisted of a band coming and playing and us all dancing. Even though we just biked 60 miles and we all were tired and exhausted we mustered up enough energy to put smiles on our face and we danced for 3 straight hours. We had a blast even though our legs were killing us. When it was time to go it was sad and hard to say goodbye to everyone knowing that we may never see them again. Before leaving we took pictures together to end another great friendship visit. Tomorrow starts the hardest 10 day stretch of the trip where we bike 825 miles in 8 biking days with only 2 days off!! Today was a day that showed us what an impact we are truly making on these people’s lives. I have never felt so much appreciation towards me and the feeling was indescribable.
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